Monthly Archives: September 2007
The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L’Engle
Synopsis: A summer job turns into a game of strategy with potentially deadly consequences for a young aspiring scientist hoping to learn more about the implications of the regenerative powers of starfish. Review: Of course I had to read a L’Engle as soon as humanly possible, and I wanted to read one I hadn’t read before. I was unaware that The Arm of the Starfish featured some of the characters from the Wrinkle in Time books, most notably, Polyhymnia O’Keefe from An Acceptable Time. I…
Sign Up for the Read-a-Thon
SATURDAY OCTOBER 20TH, starting at 2pm GMT, hosted by Hidden Side of a Leaf. Here are the different ways to get involved: Sign up to spend 24 hours reading and blogging. Sign up as an official cheerleader and host a mini challenge for participants on your blog. Promote the Read-a-Thon on your blog. Save the date and follow along with all the readers. You can find all the details here. I will definitely be following along and commenting on the entrants’ blogs.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
Synopsis: Aya’s city runs on fame, and she’s desperate to find a story to send out over her personal feed in order to crack the top 1,000 and get all her heart desires. Review: Extras is a follow up to Scott Westerfeld’s acclaimed trilogy: Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, which follow Tally Youngblood through a series of escalating body and mind modifications that basically turn her into a superhero.
Unhooked by Laura Sessions Stepp
Synopsis: A dissection of hook-up culture on college campuses and in high schools, including anecdotal accounts. Review: More hand-wringing than Last Night in Paradise, less high-minded than Unprotected, Unhooked is more likely than either to provoke fear and consternation in the hearts of parents of teenagers across America–particularly if they’ve read I Am Charlotte Simmons and their daughter is looking at Duke University.
Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson by Judy Oppenheimer
Synopsis: A biography of Shirley Jackson, author of the short story “The Lottery,” and one of my favorite authors. Review: I was inspired to read this thanks to an email I got from Chaucerian Girl. She expressed an appreciation for Private Demons, Judy Oppenheimer’s biography of the woman I believe to be one of the greatest American writers of the mid-20th century.
Comfort Food (Booking Through Thursday)
Be sure to visit the original post at Booking Through Thursday for links to all the other entries–they are really fun to read. Okay . . . picture this (really) worst-case scenario: It’s cold and raining, your boyfriend/girlfriend has just dumped you, you’ve just been fired, the pile of unpaid bills is sky-high, your beloved pet has recently died, and you think you’re coming down with a cold. All you want to do (other than hiding under the covers) is to curl up with a…
5 Tips for Crafting Effective Criticism
As you may be aware, I currently have a part-time job analyzing books and screenplays for a production company. I read the material, provide a detailed synopsis, and then offer my opinion as to whether the material has promise as a feature film. Last night’s work read was an especially challenging one, offering a strong premise but weak-to-infuriating execution, and as I had just given some notes to a writer friend of mine on how to improve her (already-wonderful) work, I got to thinking about…
Where I Was and What I Was Thinking
Sucks is the word for today. This piece by me ran on the now-defunct Regeneration Quarterly website right in the aftermath. The rest of it goes like this:
Auralia’s Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet
Synopsis: In a world where color has been banished, a young woman defies the king with a cloak woven from all the hues of nature, throwing the fabric of society into chaos and turmoil. Review: I became a fan of Jeffrey Overstreet after reading his book on film, Through a Screen Darkly, and subsequently become a reader of his blog, Looking Closer. Auralia’s Colors is the first in a proposed series of four, to which I say, “Bring it.”